On the latter point (the grouping mechanism), yeah that's what he means. It's entirely up to you of course, but I'd recommend considering auras as 'groups' because that's what they'll actually be in 5.1.

If you're wondering why 5.1 is going to take a week or two, it's because I'd planned for it to be a 'clean up all the messy crap I had to deal with' release with a few minor changes to remove the stuff that never panned out.